All We Can Do Is Hope
by Wherever Girl
Summary: *Takes place after the first battle with Vileheart* Worried about Oliver, Esther and Swaine share a moment. What could have happened if Vileheart didn't interrupt.


Okay, guys, been watching a lot of Ni No Kuni walkthroughs... and I've been struck by inspiration for a one-shot :D

This may contain a spoiler for anyone who isn't far in the game or hasn't played it yet, so if you don't want me to ruin your fun, best if you turn around and read something else until you're ready. Otherwise, enjoy!

For this idea, I came up with it after watching the scene where Oliver knows the truth about his mother (not saying what!), and has passed out. We then get a scene of his friends worried sick about him as he's been unconcious for days, and Swaine has wandered off to be alone with his thoughts, Esther finding him... And JUST when I start to think, 'Sweet, we finally get to see an actual tender-moment between these two!', what happens? ...Vileheart appears and ruins the whole flipping thing!

_Darn it, Vileheart! You... rotten... son of a...! I hope you're burning in the fiery pits of-!_

***Technical Difficulties! Please Stand By!***

*ahem* So, you know the feeling- could have been something cute between Swaine and Esther, but that _throbbing douche-bag _killed it for all of us!

...Luckily, we live in the era of Fan-Fiction! And I've decided to write a little one-shot on what COULD have happened if VILEHEART didn't interrupt!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ni No Kuni... otherwise we would have seen a lot more fluff-moments in the game.

*0*0*0*

Esther walked all around the village of Perdida, concern filling her soul. _Where did he run off to, now? _she wondered. It was bad enough Oliver had been unconcious for God knows how many days, but now Swaine had wandered off without saying where he was going- and it wasn't the first time! _What if something happens to us, and he's not around to help? ...What if something has happened to him?_

She was relieved to see the thief was standing outside the walls of the city, looking out at the early morning, lost in his own thoughts. Normally she'd have snapped at him, possibly slapped him across the face for taking off so much. But she was understanding- it had been a bad experience for them all, and they were all worried about the young wizard.

Calmly, she walked over to him. "Swaine!" she called.

He seemed to snap back to reality, turning around. "Oh, Esther... it's you," he said, his tone mellow.

"Why do you keep wandering off?" she demanded at once, trying to keep her tone steady though her eyes were threatening to unleash tears. "You should be with us right now. With Oliver."

He clenched his fists. "A fat lot of good that'll do!" he snapped. "Having me around is going to help him snap out of it, is it? Well? Is it?!"

Esther bit her lip, clenching her own fists. "That's not the point!" she retorted, now on the brink of tears. This was no time to argue, couldn't the thief see that?!

He sighed, hanging his head low. "I know... Oliver saved us. His magic saved us. We owe it all to him..."

Esther nodded, relaxing a bit. "Yes. We were brokenhearted, both of us, and..." she winced, one tear escaping the more she thought about it. How empty she felt, how Swaine had felt, before Oliver came and restored the missing pieces of their hearts, freeing them from such a curse and sticking beside them under any circumstance...

"And now look at us!" Swaine continued, his tone stern once more, as he balled his fists, stomping at the ground. "We can't do a thing for him, can we?! Just when he needs us most, there's nothing we can do! Damn it!"

"Swaine..." Esther said, calmly as possible, even though the tears were building up. "It's all right..."

_"What makes you so sure?!" _he snapped, his tone harsher than before. "Oliver is in there, in a bloody coma, and not even Khulan knows how to help him! We don't know any cures for this! He could be cursed, for all we know, and there's not a bloody thing we can do about it! Now do you think things will be alright?! _Do you?!"_

_"Swaine, please stop!" _She practically shouted, the tears flooding out of her eyes now, and she couldn't stop them even if she wanted to. "Stop talking like that... you're... you're just making it worse!"

"How could things be more worse than they already are?! Wake up, already, Esther! This isn't one of your fairytales where, 'the hero always saves the day', or 'true love conquers all', or any of that crap! This is real- we came so close, but all that happened was we got tricked, and now... now it's hopeless,"

"Don't say that! Do you think Oliver would want us to give up hope?! That's exactly what Shadar wants us to do! If we give up now... then... then we _won't_ be able to help Oliver at all... and I don't want that to happen. I... I already closed my heart once, because my father gave up, and if it wasn't for Oliver, it would still be that way... and I don't want to put his help in vain!"

Swaine only stood there, arms crossed, pacing a bit. He remembered how they first told him they helped Rashaad... that was what convinced him to join in their quest in the first place, and after that they helped his brother, Marcassin...

And now... Oliver needed their help... but they had no idea what to do.

"I know... but what can we do, huh?" He replied, a bit more calm but still firm. "Oliver was always the one helping others, we just assisted him! If it were one of us in a coma, he sure as hell would be finding several solutions to help us! But..."

"Swaine..." Esther sniffled. "Please. I... I don't know what to do either... and I'm really scared. But that's why we have to hold together... we always stuck by his side, no matter what happened, and we still need to stick by him, especially now..." she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling herself trembling.

"And I suppose we just sit and wait for a miracle, right? That he'll snap himself out of it? ...Some friends we are." He turned his back to her, looking back at the approaching dawn.

Esther clenched her teeth. How could he be acting like this?! "At least I'm doing more than you! You just keep taking off, leaving him just to be alone! Why, Swaine?! Tell me why you can't be around him for more than an hour! Why you always want to be alone! You're just as scared as the rest of us, aren't you?! Admit it!"

He turned sharply, storming up to her, a dark glare in his eyes. "Fine! I'm scared! Scared as hell! The only difference is that I'm thinking rationally, and not standing around crying about it! Oliver isn't waking up, probably struggling to stay alive, and I'm scared we might lose him! That's why I want to be ALONE! _Are you happy now, you stupid girl_?!"

She just stood there, biting her bottom lip so much she might cause it to bleed. She wanted to slap him across the face, as hard as she could; maybe even punch him, get in a brawl, anything that would inflict pain upon him!

But she couldn't. She wouldn't.

Getting into a fight with Swaine wasn't going to help Oliver at all. She also knew, for sure now, that the thief was scared... and how could she blame him? He had already lost his father because of Shadar... losing Oliver would just be another blow to his heart. She was also afraid of losing the young wizard. He had given them hope again... and it was all they had now.

Swaine stood there, fists clenched, waiting for the familiar-tamer to snap at him, perhaps strike him even... but she only stood there, tears running down her face as she stared at the ground. He sighed, the tension leaving him as he looked at her. Their friend was lost in a deep sleep, and here he was, yelling at her as if she were the cause of it.

Slowly, he stretched out his arm, carefully wrapping his hand around the back of her head, as he gently pulled her forth, wrapping his other arm around her shoulders as he held her close, feeling her tremble, and he tightened his grip, hoping to make it stop. "I am scared..." he whispered. "I just... I just don't want to lose anyone else..."

Esther only listened, her head pressed against his chest, hearing his heart beating rapidly like hers was. All she did next was wrap her arms around him, burying her face into his shirt.

They stood like that a minute or more, until she finally spoke. "It's... it's going to be all right, Swaine..." she whispered. "You and I... we're the best friends Oliver can find. We'll help him out of this, somehow... just... just don't wander off, okay? He needs you... we... we both do."

He sighed, resting his chin on top of her head, holding her tighter, wincing as he did. "I... I know... I'm sorry. What should we do?"

She took a deep, steady breath. "What we can."

He nodded, shutting his eyes. If only it were that simple... but considering all they had been through already, they'd have to try.

"Oi! I told ya, Olly-boy, the world's comin' to an end, en't it! The two of 'em bein' close sure proves it!"

Swaine and Esther looked over, hearing Mr. Drippy's voice... and their hearts nearly stopped at what they saw. There stood Oliver- awake, alive, and well! "Oliver!" Esther exclaimed, letting go of Swaine and running over. "Y-You're all right! Oh, thank goodness!" she hugged the young wizard tight. "What happened?"

"I... I learned the truth about my mom," Oliver said, pulling out. "She and Alicia... She was Alicia, the whole time. After that, I found myself back in my room, feeling like I failed, until Pea came along, and reminded me of all the people I've helped... and I saw my mom, and she told me not to give up." he looked at his two friends. "What... what happened to you guys?"

"We've been waiting for you to wake up," Swaine replied, walking over and patting him on the shoulder. "We got scared for a minute, and didn't know what to do but hope..." he looked at Esther as he said this, giving a small smile. "Some of us had to remind one another to keep at it,"

Esther smiled back, then hugged Oliver again. "We're so glad you're back... now what are we going to do?" she asked him.

"There's one thing you can do... you can all DIE!" Came an eerie voice, and Vileheart appeared!

"What the hell?! I thought we defeated this guy already!" Swaine exclaimed.

"Well, we're going to defeat him again! _Mornstar!_" Oliver declared, taking out Mornstar, and blasting a spell at the fiend. The creature shrieked in pain, and the young wizard turned to his friends. "C'mon, lets hold together!"

Swaine and Esther nodded, joining Oliver in another battle.

This time, Vileheart didn't stand a chance.

*0*0*0*

A/N: DRIIIIPPPYYYYY! You killed the moment! XD ...Ah well, at least it lead to one more tender-scene before the fight.

Hope you guys all enjoyed this as much as I did!


End file.
